Hello. I am looking for some advice. I am in the market for a new stove and I am finding it difficult to make a decision. First off, i live in a 3 bdr, 1 bath 1175 sq. ft ranch, with a full, underground unfinished basement. So that 1175 x 2 floors. The stove will be located at one end of the house in the basement, under the kitchen and living room side. I understand that I'll need registers for warm air to go up and cold air to sink back down, and if my assumptions are correct I'll get a nice turn over of air from one end to the other of the house, the colder air will be leaving the bedrooms. My basement is accessible from the partially uninsulated garage, so there is no stair way to work as a return. The house is insulated ok, the weak spots are the windows and of course the metal trimmed sliding glass door. I'm currently running baseboard heat. Price hike next winter, and too me honest I'm tired of being a scrooge with the thermostats set to 66. I grew up with a Surdiac 713D Gotha, nice heat at an idle, but the shaking mechanism had an attitude and was more work than it needed to be. So I do understand the patients and devotion required to run a stove. Anyway...

I'm looking for a stove to go in the basement, so looks aren't on the top of my list. The great looking Hitzer 50-93 and 30-95 are really attractive- hoper feed, "easy" shaking a real beauty for an empty basement. But then there's the 82 and 55 from Hitzer- a no nonsense get it done stove. So far these two stove style from Hitzer really appeal to me, but I need advice. It seems that I kind of fall in between both the 50-93 / 30-95 & 82 / 55 btu size wise. What do others feel would be the right size for my home? When I spoke to Hitzer today they pushed me towards the 55 or the 50-93. I do like the idea of hopper feed- shaking twice a day and feeding once a day (like the old Surdiac). But then again, I like the ability to run a non- EPA wood fire in the fall & spring. Can anyone out there tell me if they get a whole day with one coal load in the 30-95? Has anyone burned wood in the 55? Can the ash get dumped once per day, or longer? I get the feeling that I may get overheated with the 82 or even the 50-93. Will the 55 carry the house in the winter, or at least close to it? I like the 55 & 82 as far as a twice a day loader because they look easier to load then the Mark II or the TLC in terms of fire box to door opening. My chief requirement is that the stove must be able to go 12- 14 (max) hours with out a shake, and as I stated I do like the idea of feeding and dumping ash once a day but I will consider a twice a day feeder. Hitzer recommended to me that a better, even burn will be obtained from two feedings in the 55, I assume that the same would be true for the 82? I don't mind some work, but I don't want something like that Surdiac in terms of shaking.

And as you can tell, I want blackout heatability.

At the end of the day, I realize that this all comes down to taste and personal preference. Cost is leading me to a radiant 55. So many choices... Really, I suppose my first hurdle is finding what stove (btu) is big enough w/o stripping down to underwear on a 40 degree winter day.

Thanks in advance for any personal experiences with these and other stoves.

Get the 82 U.l. or f.a. in my opinion. Your at 2350 s.f total, plus underground basements suck heat. I am about 2400 s.f and the 82 is just the right size. I am south central pa near harrisburg, i'm not sure where gilbert is. I don't have to run it at max to get enough heat. It is comfortably sized for my house, and the house isn't super insulated, but decent. There isn't much price difference between the 82 and 55 when i compared prices and i'd rather have enough stove and be warm than cold and burning oil. At this time of year with the 20's and teens i have to do 2 loadings and shakings; before and after work. In the fall i can get away with one loading and shaking. These stoves have alot of controlability to turn down. I built a cabinet around mine and ducted it to the first floor, and then put a cold air return in with a fan blowing cold air back into the basement in a different area. There was a pretty good price difference between the 50-93 and 82, the 82 u.l. was $1000, and the 50-93 probably closer $2k. I dont use wood much, so i can't tell ya much bout the wood burning characteristics of the stove. There are other hitzer users on the board that will jump in I'm sure.

For basement located whole house heat, I would go with the 82 and not get the fan. If they are built like the 30-95 the fan model has a double layer top and back and the fan blows the air out from this area. When I don't use the fan, the heat is slower to leave this space and raises the stove pipe temp. indicating heat wasted up the chimney. In the basement if the 82 is placed under the register you will want the heat to raise up off the stove and through the register, not to be blown elsware in the basement. Also you will save electricity. I believe you will want the 82's heat output so you don't have to burn it as hard as you would the 55. your load of coal will last longer, grates will need shaking less often and ashes will need enptying less often. Also the stove will last longer than a 55 running all out. In the warmer months, if it is built like the 50-93, you can deactivate one of the two grates so it doesn't shake. The ashes buuild up on the inactive grate and you are maintaining a fire only over the active grate, thereby cutting your heat output approximately in half. The 82 sounds just about perfict for your application.

Stemmy wrote:The stove will be located at one end of the house in the basement, under the kitchen and living room side. I understand that I'll need registers for warm air to go up and cold air to sink back down

Give lots of study to this part. You don't want the bulk of your coal heat going into the kitchen while the oven and stove-top are cranking away all day cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Unless your house has a very open layout, circulation may be a problem: heat often does not travel well through doorways into other rooms. That's why forced hot air heating systems have carefully sized ducts and adjustable registers in all the rooms, and a big fan to push the air around. In my house, for example, I can't get my coal heat to the kitchen and dining room without installing a big through-the-wall fan, which my interior-designer a.k.a. wife has vetoed.

I'm going to play devil's advocate now. I know you said you want a system that works without electricity. But have you considered a coal boiler tied into your oil boiler and baseboard system? That would seem to be the ideal, since the balanced heat-distribution system is already in place. How often, really, do you lose the electricity, and for how long? Is a generator an option, to cover electrical outages? Pay for the generator with the money coal saves you! [Of course if you meant electric baseboard rather than oil-fired hot water, ignore everything I just said.]

Estimate it based on your peak electricity or oil use -- that is, on a REALLY cold day with the wind blowing, how many BTUs does it take to keep the house warm? And you might want to size it a bit small rather than oversize it, on the theory that you can supplement the coal with your current system on the coldest days. Having a smaller stove makes it easier to keep it going at lower output levels on those 50-degree days in Fall and Spring.

i run a 50-93, similar sq footage as yours in a well insulated house and finished insulated basement. shake twice a day and add coal twice a day. not dding coal because its empty but because it burns better with a full hopper imo. on real cold days, i.e. highs in the teens,i really have to push the stove to keep the house temp at 70. i would lean towards the 50-93 if i was you. if anything just for the hopper feed. especially for 12 hour burns. it might be a little more than what you need on moderate days but when it gets cold you'll be happy you did. i was looking at the 82 as well and glad i didn't get it now.

I have read some discussion on this forum about blocking off one grate for a more manageable smaller fire for warmer days on other stoves. Has anyone tried this on a 50-93 or 82? Could the linkage be disconnected on 1 grate so ash builds on one and would the stove still burn on the other? This coulds add the versility that I am after. I just have to wonder if the hopper would feed a one grate fire this way on a 50-93.

On the 503 insert the grates are independent of each other. Once one chokes out on ash the other should keep going and the coal will just feed that side.It is just like a big pile of coal if you remove coal from one side it will fall to just that side.

The grates are independent of each other on the 82. You shake one grate then you shake the other. so you could just let one clog and have one grate if you wanted, or cover it with firebrick i bet rather easily. I havent tried it.

I have a Hitzer 354 in my basement, heating a 28X48 log home, The basement is fully insulated, walkout. I know this is hard to believe, but this is my second winter with this stove, and I keep the house in the low 70's, and I only load the stove once a day with about one 40lb. bag of Blashack Nut. Love that Stove! No floor vents, just radiats up thru floor, and up open stairway.

i disconnected the linkage and put some firebrick in there to take up the space, but the next time i will just disconnect the linkage and let the ash buildup, much easier. it ran fine with the linkage out.